Federal Response To Domestic Terrorism Involving Weapons Of Mass Destruction Training For First Responders PDF Download

A terrorist attack on some level inside the borders of the United States is inevitable and America must be ready. Much of the legitimate fear associated with the prospect of a terrorist attack can be substantially reduced. Improving our ability to address the threat and reducing the fear of citizens and government leaders is possible if-and only if-we are willing to take bold action as a nation. Specifically, we must: 1) craft a truly 'national" strategy to address the threat of domestic terrorism-conventional, cyber, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear-from the perspectives of deterrence, prevention, preparedness and response; 2) empower a senior authority to be in charge of our overall planning and preparation in the Federal Executive Branch, with special emphasis on preserving our civil liberties in a time of emergency; 3) consolidate the Congressional approach to legislation governing domestic preparedness for such attacks; 4) concentrate much more serious attention on state and local concerns and capabilities; and 5) strengthen functional capabilities across all levels of government for intelligence collection and information sharing; planning, training, equipping and exercising; research and development; health and medical; and across all first responder stakeholders-fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services and emergency management. These five imperatives represent the major themes in this report.